Writing and Music by John Kirnan

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Green to Gold

“Green to Gold” was recorded in 1989, a year after “Out of the Blue,” and most of what I said in the post about the first album applies to the second one as well. This time though, I thought I’d focus more on the songs themselves and the memories connected to them.

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The Sparrow Stone – Chapter 4

John’s Journal – page 1 – I haven’t written much fiction. And what I did write, at least in the past, was mostly just plain hard work. Poetry was always easier for me. Even writing a piece in a traditional style was always easier than prose. I guess I was a bit hung up on the rules, till I threw them away. That and finding that I could combine fiction and verse into one form was the breakthrough for me. Having said that, somehow it still feels like it shouldn’t be this easy. This book is almost writing itself. Not that I’m complaining. Long may it last.

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The Sparrow Stone – Chapter 3

Knolley and Wenna – The others? Speaking of which, and which witch is which, I’d like to introduce to you the best friend a silly wizard ever had, just back from the Elven court, the Love of my Lives, a spellcaster of spellbinding beauty and unearthly skill, The Sorceress – Morwenna! […]

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The Sparrow Stone – Chapter 2

The Second Spell – Truth be told, I don’t have a cat. Sorry if that’s a disappointment for you. Poets often have cats, it seems. A pet to pet between easily acquired phrases or a distracting friend to play with when the words won’t come. Wait a minute, I don’t think I mentioned that I’m a poet. An unconscious, on purpose, omission, no doubt. After all, I did want you to read the book. But you’re not like that, are you? You wouldn’t drop me like a hot tomato (your use of language is fascinating) just because of an occasional affair with an old love – words? I don’t have a dog either, though I like their enthusiasm. I like […]

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Lost Tracks 4 – “Shadows in the Woodlands”

This little tune is quite different from the previous Lost Tracks. In this one, I switch off the electricity and pick up an acoustic guitar while Louis switches from rhythm to fingerstyle. Also, the piece sounds like it’s something that might have been written hundreds of years ago rather than in the last few […]

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The Sparrow Stone – Chapter 1

The First Spell – Welcome to Scriber’s Ford, a small village quite lost in the land of Soulstra. And welcome to the home of Kiernan. Kiernan the Wizard to some. Kiernan the Crazy to others. Kiernan the Nomad. Kiernan the Bard. Kiernan the Bad Housekeeper said an aunt older than sunshine but twice as good at […]

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The Sparrow Stone – Preface

An Invitation – The flames move strangely tonight. They speak to me of Bards and legends, the storyteller’s campfire, a circle of faces looking up, wanting more, much more than the stories can give. What do I want? I want to try and set all this down. It might be a spell worth casting. Though I […]

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Lost Tracks 3 – “Solo Flight”

I think I’d like to do more with this music someday. In the meantime, I see no reason not to post it as is. This is the “Lost Tracks” section of the site, after all, and anything goes. Also, in some ways, even though it’s only a guitar solo and drums, to me, it somehow […]

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Lost Tracks 2 – “Moonlight”

Whenever I think of this piece of music, I think of the house I grew up in. It had a gallery that ran the width of the front of the house, with tall screens and windows on three sides. One sunny summer day, Louis and I gathered up our guitars and all the gear […]

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Three Portraits

An exercise of the mind and heart is once again called for. A pen is picked up. The hand obeys reluctantly, but lets the black blood flow freely nonetheless. Three portraits fall out of love. Three pictures of the same man, taken by the same woman who is still invisible. She becomes clearer as a reality while fading as a dream. […]

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